Mitchell - WHERE NEXT???

America's next great HW hope - alongside Deontay Wilder, Chambers, Thompson and Arreola (and Johnson - but I put him in brackets where he belongs) - is rising star, Seth "mayhem" Mitchell. A decent athlete (former college football player) with next to no amateur experience - the KO artist's stock is rising thanks to a fan-friendly style and not-too-shabby skills.

However - golden boy have decided to step things up a notch. Rather than continue his 20 fight career gaining experience from journeyman and travelling victims - they're stepping up his level of opponent - to Timur Ibragimov. Brother of Sultan - Timur can certainly fight. He gave Mormeck hell (Mormeck took an SD win - a fight many saw the other way with some cries of robbery http://www.doghouseboxing.com/DHB/Pavel110311.htm)

Nor is he past it - as he showed by outboxing Mormeck at the start and then landing harder shots down the stretch.
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Mitchell has won - so where next? It seems traditional for US based fighters to build legacies without actually fighting the other US based contenders - so Arreola, Johnson, Chambers and Thompson have all had title shots - but without actually fighting each other. So if he wins - he's televised as the opening act on HBO's Khan-Peterson card - there's talk of him getting a (far too soon) title shot within 18 months.

But he's destroyed a decent level fighter in Ibragimov - a guy who was absolutely robbed by Mormeck in a title eliminator.

Does that mean that Mitchell gets a shot now?

I read about him on yahoo. Haven't seen anything of him though. The problem I have is that yahoo et al are searching for any US boxer to hype. Perhaps fighting and beating Ibragimov etc would be good for him. He's 20+-1 and fought no-one.

At least he isn't a fat lump though.

No-one is a bit of a stretch. Just beaten Taurus/Tyrus Sykes - who was a good enough opponent for Povetkin 2/3 fights back. But I agree with the essential point - he's on the foothills at the moment - and Timur will be a big step up.

Mitchall excites me although he will be judged when he steps up. This fight is perfect for him to learn and impress. He is late twenties so needs to make an impact on the heavyweight scene. If he does well and wins against Ibragimov he will get more tv air time and this is what is really important.

If he wins then HBO, SHOWTIME will start the great hype machine going and pretty soon we will have ?the American hope" shoved down our throats.

he stands no chance against a klit in the next 2 years... this is a big step up and im pretty excited about this fight. think mitchell will win i saw this guy years back they were doing a piece about guys that didnt make it from other sports and turned to boxing and about the gym they had dedicated to it.

think mitchells style and lack of amateur background will hurt him in the end but should be fun while he lasts. think he beats ibragimov but there will be someone that takes him out.

As far as recent Heavyweights from across the pond go, I do have relatively high hopes for Mitchell. He's a fairly well-rounded fighter, solid fundamentals and in decent shape (maybe a little too heavy at times for a 6'2" guy with an average reach for a Heavyweight, but no flab on him all the same).

Has impressed me more than Wilder, from what I've seen. Goes without saying he's nowhere near ready for a title shot in 2012 though, unless it's for Povetkin's 'title'.

Haven't seen all that much of Timur, but from what I have seen he doesn't look all that comfortable against lateral movement and speed. His attack is very repetitive. Can see Mitchell getting a decision though I wouldn't bet anything on it.

More excited about Wilder personally but think Mitchells pretty good too Chris. Then again Wilder hasn't really made any form of actual step up whereas Mitchell has stepped up and is steppung up again in this fight.

Bump.

Definitely needs to get in shape before he can hope to hold a candle to a Klitschko though.

He's normally quite cut Fists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ObJSHXhX5w

How did he look last night - haven't seen it yet?

oxy, could you keep an eye on your in tray please, Buddy? There'll be a PM there in five minutes or so.

Thanks.

Fists of Fury wrote:Definitely needs to get in shape before he can hope to hold a candle to a Klitschko though.

Apart from the Kbros, who always turn up in fantastic shape, I can't think of many heavyweight contenders out there in better shape than Mitchell. He's got some speed and some power and I think should maintain this level for his next few fights to continue to build up experience, as he's no amateur background. Can't see him having enough to get past Wlad's jab but you never know, Vitali might be a cracking fight as he's slowed a little and Mitchell might be able to land some big shots.

I thought his finishing was excellent yesterday. One thing that most impressed me is when he had the Ibragimov hurt he didn't rush it. There is a great moment where he is going right hand happy and Ibragimov, sticks his hand in the way to block it so Mitchell faints the right and comes in with a left uppercut.

That's pretty good going for someone who has only been boxing a few years.

Ibragimov is fairly solid and is technically quite good, this was an excellent win for Mitchell who really made a statment yesterday.

I'd like to see him stay active next year and fight on a regular basis.
Hopefully we can even see him against another contender, perhaps the winner of Chambers-Liakhovich.

Its a bit too early to start talking about a Klitschko fight as the gulf between them and the rest of the division is huge.

However, the HW division can still produce some decent scraps as long as the contenders are willing to fight one another to establish who the better ones are.
For instance, I think Mitchell against Chisora or Perez would be a terrific fight.

Think that he isn't in the worst shape ever but got no chance agaisnt a Klit, and I truly mean no chance, tough guy though.

I think he could take up the mantel if the K'bro's retire, but I don't see him having any tools to make a K fight even competitive. He's a little flat footed, but that maybe in order to sit down on his punches. He's a talent, but not going to ignite the casual american fight fan, I think the current 230lb areola, puts him away right now, but he could certainly grow into the lead contender to the K'bro crown.

I thought the ref was a bit quick to stop Timur. He looked like getting dropped at any moment, but it didn't look game over at that stage either. Better than stopping too late I guess.